Why call your child a "non-reader"?

Thursday was our Student Orientation Day. After helping take ID photos, I had the opportunity to meet new parents. Several of them told me their children were "non-readers". I may be super-sensitive to this issue right now, but I think their children were upset with this label. The parents seem to think that if their child doesn’t curl up with huge chapter books, that they don’t read.

What about those magazines and nonfiction books I watched their children read while they browsed through the library? I assured each of the parents that their children would read when they found something that met their interests. Then I asked a few questions of the students about their interests. In every case I was able to pull out fiction AND nonfiction titles that reflected their interests. They were reassured that I wasn’t accepting the label and looking forward to coming back when school started to read these books.

Relax, parents. Your children are in good hands. They have no idea what force of reading awaits them in their middle school.

One of my former students gave some of the students the inside information: "Ms Chen makes you read until you like it so much you forget you didn’t like it."